Lydia Henderson was bored. Very bored. She rubbed her tired eyes and looked away from her laptop screen. "There is only so much social media one human can read in a single day," she muttered before standing up and stretching. She wanted to invent something, but the creative inventing well in her mind was completely dry. She looked around her room at the various gadgets, all the things she had either invented or made modifications to and sighed. "I need a new adventure. I need a purpose. I need…to travel!" she declared, running to the far corner of her room where a large yellow sheet covered an object slightly taller than herself. As she pulled the sheet away, revealed was a large, see through box. It resembled a telephone booth in size, light blue neon lights outlining the frame as she tapped the side twice to turn it on. "Let's hope you're in top form today," she stated, saying a mental prayer before climbing inside. She smiled to herself as she observed the large computer screen and sat on the small stool in front of the keyboard. "I want to go slightly back into the past. But let's keep the date: October fourteenth, nineteen—"

Before she could finish typing, the computer modem hummed to life and the booth began to shake. "Wait; I didn't enter the year or the place!"

But it was too late. She and the machine had already disappeared.

Malcolm Frink internally growled as he watched his nemesis Sam Collins walk hand in hand with Jennifer Doyle down the hall of North Valley High. It should be him with Jennifer, not goody-two-shoes Collins. She deserved a man who could bring mystery, danger, excitement, and wealth to her life. The only thing Collins could give her was death by boredom. He looked at his watch and had never been happier to see that in five minutes, he would be free from high school hell and back into his bedroom, causing chaos with his computer.

"Hey, Malcolm; you wanna buy a candy bar to help raise money for underprivileged kids?" Sam stopped suddenly to ask, holding out a box of generic chocolate bars.

"Do I look like I want to buy any of your completely worthless confections? Now get out of my way, you pitiful excuse for a species!" he snapped, knocking the box out of Sam's hand, spilling the contents on the floor. "Good day, Jennifer," he added more sweetly before the bell rang and he dashed off, excited for what the evening could hold.

"Where am I?"

Lydia opened the door to her time machine and looked around. Wherever she was, the room was almost completely dark. Pulling a keychain flashlight from her pocket, she was able to tell that she was in someone's bedroom. Drawings of strange monsters and one girl in particular were lined on the walls and a bed fitted with black sheets was in the corner. On the other side of the room was a map of the world and a giant desk with two computer screens, a scanner/printer, and various electronic gadgets. She edged closer to the computer desk and gasped. "Man, talk about your ancient hardware!" After Lydia looked around her to make sure no one was near, she pressed the Enter button on the cream-colored keyboard. She doubted the old thing still worked, anyway.

"Good evening, Meat-Thing," a voice suddenly growled at her. Gasping again, she looked up to find a strange man wearing a helmet and mask covering his entire face, a black robe and black leather-like suit with bizarre tubing attached. "Wait a minute; you're not the Malcolm Meat-Thing," he concluded after a few seconds, red dots blinking where his mouth should be. This guy was quite the character!

"Who are you calling a Malcolm Meat-Thing? Is that some sort of code? And what kind of costume is that; you lose a bet at Comic-Con?"

"I am Kilokahn, ruler of the digital world!" he proudly boasted.

"Yeah, if you're ruler of the digital world, I'm Cinderella. But nice try," Lydia smirked. "You must be really into role-playing." She sat down at the computer, cracked her knuckles and began typing furiously. "How about I play a character named Lydigar, and I am the Empress of Ebay?"

Suddenly, she looked up and saw that the monitor still showcased the strange character, but not what she had typed. "What's the matter? Am I cramping your style?"

"You are an irritating meat-thing and I will eradicate you just as soon as I—," Kilokahn fumed, but stopped when Lydia quickly looked around.

"Someone's coming…shh!" she put her finger to her lips before diving underneath the desk.

Seconds later, she heard someone walk inside and toss what sounded like a heavy bag on the floor before pulling out the chair and sitting down. "Kilokahn, what are you doing online? I haven't summoned you," a male voice queried in an eccentric mid-Atlantic accent.

"It's a long—and very odd story, Meat-Thing."

"Well, I don't have time to hear it. Let's get down to business, shall we?"

Lydia rolled her eyes and shifted her body ever-so-slightly, but as she did, the man's foot shifted, as well, kicking her in the ribs. "Yip!"

"What on Earth was that?" the man asked.

"Well, it wasn't me, Meat-Thing," Kilokahn replied.

Lydia had to get out of here, but how? The man with the black rib-bruising boots had her blocked completely. And on top of that, she now had a sudden urge to—

"A-choo!"

Well, that did it, she thought to herself as the chair rolled backward and the man's face appeared, though shadowed by the darkness of the room.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my room?" he shouted, and she quickly slid out from under the desk, standing at attention. "How did you get in here? I want answers; now!"

Lydia gulped. While she could now see that the man was indeed a teenage boy about her age, it didn't make her feel any less uneasy. How was she going to get out of this mess?

"Well? I'm waiting," Malcolm pressed, his arms crossed over his chest. "Or perhaps I should just call the authorities and let them arrest you for trespassing."

"I'm not trespassing, per se," she replied calmly, before her entire demeanor changed. "It's not my fault that my stupid machine isn't working right and brought me here!" Malcolm noticed that she was now flailing her arms about wildly. But he didn't have time to care. He needed her gone so he could create his next virus to ruin Sam's life.

"What are you babbling on about? Some machine brought you here? Do you think I was born yesterday?"

"Yes, some machine brought me here: mine!" she yelled before tapping a dark object in the room twice.

Suddenly, the object lit up with a strange blue light and Malcolm took a step back. What was this; some sort of wizardry or trickery? He then looked at her and was able to see her more closely. She was around his own age, with wavy light brown hair down to her shoulders. She was dressed in tight fitting blue jeans and a t-shirt with an image of a stunning Aurora Borealis. Oh, get it together, Frink, he scolded himself. She's still an unwanted guest hiding about. And we can't have that! "So? It's a generic phone booth with fancy lights. It explains nothing!" he scoffed, looking inside to get a better view. When he did, he could see that it wasn't just some generic phone booth. There were multiple switches and dials, a large screen bigger (and flatter) than his parents' television, a keyboard, a stool bolted into the floor…it defied all logic. She had to be a witch! Or perhaps she was strange enough to be telling the truth.

"What's the date today, Kimo—Karl—Kal—whatever your name is?" she asked, peering around Malcolm at Kilokahn. Great, Malcolm thought, both fear and anger resonating within his being, she was the reason Kilokahn was already online when I came in.

"It's October fourteen," Malcolm answered before Kilokahn could.

"I know that, O Dark and Sullen One; I mean the year."

"Nineteen ninety-five, okay?"

She placed the palm of her hand on her forehead dramatically and groaned. "I didn't finish typing the year before it brought me here. I wanted to go back to October fourteenth, nineteen ninety nine! There was an Eiffel 65 concert in London that night and I wasn't able to go back then. Unfortunately, I'm still cursed with horrible luck and I have to deal with you and your insane role-playing friend until I can get my machine fixed."

Now, it was Malcolm's turn to smack his forehead. "Well, how long will that take?"

"Given your limited technology and your unhelpful disposition, up to a week at most. In the meantime, I can't just hide out in here. My skin is screaming for sunlight. Or any light, for that matter. What school do you go to?"

"North Valley High," he replied through gritted teeth. "Why do you want to know?"

She straightened up and smiled just before her time machine lights went dark again. "You are looking at Lydia Henderson, your newest classmate!"

"Oh for joy, for joy," Malcolm feigned excitement before sneering at her again. "Now get out of my room!"

He watched as she turned to leave but shined a small flashlight around the room slowly. "Enjoy your cosplay or whatever, Malcolm Frink," she responded with a teasing tone, the beam of light stopping on a notebook on his bed with his name on it. "And just for being so jolly, I'm telling people at school we're related."

Malcolm watched her as she left the room before letting out a long, frustrated scream. He almost wished he was back at school, having to deal with Sam Collins and his hair-brained friends. This girl was going to send him straight to the funny farm!